The future starts now and must be more cohesive, fair, and sustainable. To achieve this goal, our human actions must embrace a different vision, one in which our sustainable well-being emerges from our love for the planet. (Restore 2018)
This January, the European Commission published the New European Bauhaus Compass, one of the major milestones in the NEB labelling strategy. Among the publications referenced for defining the levels of ambitions of Sustainability Value, was the RESTORE “Sustainability: Restorative to Regenerative”, authored by Martin Brown, Edeltraud Haselsteiner, Diana Apró, Diana Kopeva, Egla Luca, Katri-Lisa Pulkkinen and Blerta Vula Rizvanolli as part of the COST Action CA16114 RESTORE, an EU funded program that ran between 2017 – 2021. This publication formed the foundation for RESTORE working groups, providing a European and global exploration of a language for sustainability that inspires, not confuses, and the regenerative mindset necessary to achieve a truly sustainable future.
It advocates for a shift from traditional sustainability practices towards regenerative approaches that seek to restore and improve the health of natural and social systems, with a focus on regenerative heritage, regenerative economic thinking, living buildings that are restorative and regenerative, and a social and well-being world view of our place on the planet
The publication progressed the introduction of EGO to ECO to SEVA into the built environment sustainability lexicon, emphasising that we are a part of the connectedness and interdependencies of ecological systems. To progress toward a Seva vision of Regenerative Sustainability, a number of triggers were identified
- Rethinking education to inspire the next generation
- Reconnecting with nature through biophilic and ecological design
- A sense of place rooted in local, culturally rich, and ecologically sound built environments, and
- A circular economy that moves us from limited growth to regenerative economies.
These four triggers resonate well with the 4 NEB themes of
- Reconnecting with nature
- Regaining a sense of belonging
- Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
- Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life cycle thinking
The New European Bauhaus Compass is a guiding framework for decision and project-makers wishing to apply the NEB principles and criteria to their activities. The New European Bauhaus initiative aims to transform different sectors of the economy, especially the built environment, making them contribute to our climate goals and to an improvement of the quality of life of all citizens.
“If the European Green Deal has a soul, then it is the New European Bauhaus which has led to an explosion of creativity across our Union” – Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
NEB calls on all Europeans to imagine and build together a sustainable and inclusive future that is beautiful for our eyes, minds, and souls. It aims at transforming different sectors of the economy, especially the built environment, making them contribute to our climate goals and to an improvement of the quality of life of all citizens.
“Sustainability: Restorative to Regenerative” along with all RESTORE publications are freely available to download from this page
